Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Mozilla is not a browser

Author:Dave Winer
Posted:4/12/2000; 3:45:53 PM
Topic:Mozilla is not a browser
Msg #:16143 (In response to 16131)
Prev/Next:16142 / 16144

Bravo Nick, couldn't have said it better myself.

Maybe Open Source can add a new role, product manager.

Operate the project as if there were a marketing plan, some goal that's attainable, add focus, provide a way for people to know what's their job and what isn't.

I can tell you this, a junior product manager at Microsoft could do a better job with this than Netscape and Mozilla are. Perhaps it's time for the geeks to get some respect for the other parts of product teams now. A bit of growing up is in order.

Lose the Mozilla identity, focus on Netscape, which is indeed a browser and only a browser. Make it exactly UI compatible with MSIE5 to allow the most people to use it with the least pain. Quiet down on the "it's everything, you figure it out" line, and partner with developers who do writing tools, servers, design tools, bitmap editors.

This was a problem at Marc Andreessen's Netscape. Too into being C++ programmers, acting as if all the people that counted were just like them, not willing to fit in with the rest of the world. I remember being told, with a straight face, that the only way they'd work with us was if we converted all our code to Java. This was from a "marketing" guy at Netscape. (A long time ago.)

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